Thomas j



T. J. OHU'BB. ORE SBPARATOR.

No.18,388. Patented-Oct. 18, 1857.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS J. GHUBB, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

ORE-SEPARATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 18,388, dated October 13, 1857.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS J. CHUBB, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ore-Separators or in Machinery for Separating Metals, Ores, and other Substances of Difierent Specific Gravity; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, forming a part of this specification.

Figure 1, in the drawing is a side elevation of the machine with a portion of the framing broken away to show the interior. Fig. 2, is a transverse vertical section of the same. Fig. 8, is a plan view, on a larger scale than Figs. 1 and 2, showing the construction of the chain of scrapers. Fig. 4:, is a perspective view of the curved bed and sectional bellows. Fig. 5, is a perspective view (of the outside) on a smaller scale.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The nature of my improvement consists in the arrangement of thin fiat strips of brass (or other materials) so bent or curved edgewise that when fastened a little distance from each other they form an open net work, the upper edges of the strips form a curved inclined table or bed longitudinally and fiat or a straight horizontal line in the transverse section. Also in the arrangement of the divided or sectional bellows below the perforated bed and operated by a series of levers and cranks or arms on a rocking shaft, made adjustable. Also the arrangement of a chain made of cut or punched and bent links, fastened to the scrapers in such a manner as to form an endless chain of scrapers, holding the edges of each scraper always in an upright position when separating or scraping.

To enable others to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A, is the framing made of curved strips of metal which is intended as a support for a very fine wire cloth which I call an incline perforated table. B, which is made of cloth known as and called Dutch cloth, made so fine that it will allow none or as little as possible of the substances to be separated to pass through it as itis not intended to serve as a sieve, but merely as a resting place for the substances while a blast of air is forced upward through them, it is set at an inclination lengthwise of about one in twenty or one in ten to the horizon, but is horizontal in a transverse direction, it rests immediately on the top of a frame that is composed of longitudinal strips a a and transverse strips 6, b, of wood or metal, which form a large number of oblong open bottomed compartments (5, d.

C, is a board suspended by strips of leather 0, c, or other flexible material from the wood or metal strips 64 a and Z; Z) and constituting the movable or vibrating portion of a bellows which extends under the whole of the screen or more properly speaking of a large number of small bellows for every compartment.

D, is a separate bellows, having one or more valves in the board G, through which by the downward movement of the board C, air is drawn to be forced by the upward movement of the said board through the screen or perforated table B. The reason for thus dividing the bellows into a number of small compartments or separate bellows is to secure as nearly as possible the passage of equal quantities of air through all parts of the screen, which result could not be obtained with one large undivided bellows covering the whole area of the screen as the substances will sometimes pack closer or he deeper on some parts of the screen than on other parts and by that means if one large bellows were used more air would be caused to be forced through the parts where the substances were less thickly distributed on the screen.

D is a box with a closed top and with closed sides and ends but with an open bottom, placed above and covering the whole of the screen or perforated table B. The sides of this box fit down closely on the screen but the ends are provided with openings fitted with sliding shutters f, f to regulate their width, and under each sliding shutter is an inclined chute g or f. The box D contains the moving scrapers g, g, which are attached to a pair of endless chains 71, h, which run around chain wheels i i mounted on two shafts e, e, which passes transversely through the boX D.

The scrapers g consist simply of straight flat strips of iron, and the endless chains consist simply of angular links 72., h, of metal, riveted to the said strip and connected together by pins J J, as shown in Fig. 3. The ends of the scrapers of the lower half of the chain rest upon guides 70, is, so arranged at the sides of the box D (see Fig. 2) as to keep the bottom edges of the scrapers parallel with and at a short distance from the surface of the screen or perforated table.

The bearings Z Z of the shafts E, E are fitted to the slots mi for the purpose of setting the chain up tight.

At the top of the box D, there is a hopper F through which the substances to be separated are fed into the said box. Below this hopper is a shelf G, which stands immediately below the upper half of the endless chain of scrapers. On one side of the hopper is a board 12, (see Fig. 1,) which extends downward so as to leave just room for the upper half of the endless chain of scrapers to work between it and the shelf G and on the opposite side of the hopper is a sliding shutter 29, by which to regulate the width of opening of the throat. By the arrangement of the shelf G, and the board a, relatively to the chain of scrapers the throat of the hopper is caused to be closed or choked to stop the supply of material as soon as the operation of the machine is stopped, or suspended, by the collection of a heap of material on the shelf G, but while the machine is in operation the throat is kept clear or open by the movement of the scrapers which scrape off the material from the shelf G as fast as it is deposited thereon.

The box D, is to be so fitted and secured at the top of the screen that it can be removed for the repair of the screen, &c.

H is the main shaft of the machine which receives rotary motion either by a belt from some prime mover running to a pulley I, or by other suitable means, and imparts the same to the bellows and to the endless chain of scrapers. J, is a large pulley upon the said shaft H, and K, is a belt running from the said pulley to a small pulley L on shaft M, to impart a rapid rotary motion thereto this shaft M is provided with a crank N, which is connected by means of rods 7, 7-, with arms 8, s, secured to two rock shafts 0, 0 These rock shafts are furnished with arms :3, connecting with the vibrating bellows board G, by means of rod u, u. The crank N, and its above described connections with the board 0, give the board a rapid movement upward and downward, and thus a blast of air is produced and forced upward through the screen or perforated table.

The rods S, S, may be adjustable lengthwise in boxes attached to the rock shafts for the purpose of varying the length of stroke of the bellows.

P is a small pulley on the shaft H. Q is a belt running from the said pulley to a large pulley R, on the shaft E for the purpose of giving a slow rotary motion to shaft,

thereby giving a slow motion to the endless chain of scrapers, the direction of the motion being such that the lower part of the chain moves from the lowest toward the highest end of the screen or perforated plate B. Y

The substances to be separated in the machine when not consisting of substances having theform of grains should be crushed, broken, or otherwise divided into a granular state before being introduced to the machine and the operation will be more perfect if they be also sorted into sizes, so that all the particles of the substances introduced to the machine at one time may be as nearly as possible of a uniform size.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The hopper F, being continually supplied with the substances to be sorted and the machine set in motion, the substances are swept off the shelf G by the scrapers and fall on the screen or perforated table B, upon which they are spread by the scrapers and agitated by the upward blast of air from the bellows and by the latter means are separated in layers according to their specific gravity, the heavier substance or substances settling down in a layer upon the screen and the lighter rising in a layer above. The agitation of the heavier matter upon the inclined screen causes it to travel toward the lower end of the screen by gravitation, and escapes through the opening of the shutter f and down the chute 9 into a receptacle provided for it below, while the lower half of the scrapers scrape and remove the lighter matter in the opposite direction toward the opening of the shutter f, whence it escapes down the chute g to another receptacle. Care should be taken to so regulate the relative degrees of opening of the hopper slide 39 and the shutters f, f that the whole depth of substance on the screen shall not reach much higher than the middle of the scrapers of the lower half of the chain. A drawer or box may be provided under the bellows for the purpose of receiving such fine particles of matter as may unavoidably pass down through the screen and through the bellows; but as the screen will always be very fine and the blast of air through the screen upward there will be very little escape through the screen.

The advantages gained by this improvement are, first, in making the framing or supporting bed A, curved or convex on top for the purpose of stretching the fine wire cloth over it, that the cloth may not sag down or be blown up off the framing at each upward stroke of the bellows, similar to a drum-head (an effect which would destroy the operation of separating the substances into layers of different specific gravity) as the wire cloth or perforated table B must not vibrate and also giving to the lower end of the said table a greater incline than the upper end, thereby giving to the heavier substances which naturally accumulate in a thicker layer at the said lower end of the table a better opportunity to slide or fall downward toward the gates or shutters f at the lower end of the table or box D. Second, in the mechanical arrangement for operating the bellows and the convenient arrangement for regulating the supply of air or the length of the stroke (up and down) of the bellows which regulates the quantity of air forced up through the perforated table and the substances resting thereon by means of the rods 8, s; also the advantages gained by using the sectional bellows as arranged. Third, in the durable and certain operation of the scrapers by the use of the chain in place of a belt which would carry 0E large portions of the metallic or heaviest substances from the lower end of the table carrying them on the belt and depositing them at the upper end of the table among the lighter substances or refuse.

Having thus fully described my improvements, I do not claim separating substances of difierent specific gravity, by submitting them to the action of a blast of air through a screen. But

What I claim as my invention or improvement, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is:

1. The arrangement of a series of strips of wood or metal forming a convex surface on top longitudinally and horizontal in a transverse direction employed as a support for a perforated table or bed of wire cloth (or its equivalent).

2. Is the arrangement of a sectional bellows and the mechanism foroperating the same, below the framing and the perforated table or bed.

3. Is the employment of a claim made of angular links riveted to strips and connected together by pins forming an endless chain of scrapers in combination with a perforated table or bed for the purpose herein set forth.

THOS. J. GHUBB. Witnesses:

SIDNEY OAKSMITH, N. W. HUTCHESON. 

